Desert Towers Squamish Tuolumne Wasatch Range Yosemite

Birdland 5.7+

Brass Wall, Pine Creek Canyon

Route quality:

Mark Limage, Chris Burton, 2001

Number of pitches: 5

Approach Time: 30-45 minutes

Climbing Time: 2½-4 hours

Descent Time: 1-1½ hours to base

Sun exposure: Sunrise until end afternoon

About the Climb

Birdland is a relatively new route on the left Brass Wall in Pine Creek Canyon. The climbing is varied with a great mix of face and crack, and a superb finger crack on the final pitch as icing on the cake.

The Brass Wall is in the sun for most of the day, so it's better to save Birdland for a colder day. You can also try to beat the heat by starting early, and then climb a more shady route like Dark Shadows (5.8) in the afternoon.

Birdland is quickly becoming popular, but there are several options available if there are other parties ahead of you (see the Possible Combinations below). All the belays are bolted, which makes the climbing go relatively quickly, and enables you to squeeze many pitches in your day.

Low Resolution GearLoopTopo Preview

Minimum order of 3 GearLoopTopos

The GearLoopTopo

Our GearLoopTopo for Birdland contains all the information you need for the climb, starting from the Pine Creek Parking. This parking is located near the end of the scenic drive.

In addition to the topo for Birdland, our GearLoopTopo also shows the topo for the Big Horn Crack and the top pitches of Rawlpindi (5.7) in case you want to climb more great pitches.

Possible Combinations

When looking left from the second belay of Birdland, you will see an amazing curving crack in the corner. This is the Big Horn Crack (5.8), and the climbing is as amazing as it looks. The crack is rated 5.8, but is certainly not easy for the grade. From B2 of Birdland you can reach the start of the crack via 4th and low-5th class climbing. From the top of the crack you can rap back down.

For a full day of amazing climbing, try this: Start by climbing Birdland, and rap back down to B2. From B2 traverse to the start of the Big Horn Crack. Climb the crack and rap back down to B3 of Rawlpindi (5.7), which is just 30ft left of B3 of Birdland. Climb P4 and P5 of Rawlpindi, which are similar to the top section of Birdland. Rappel Rawlpindi back down to B3 of Birdland, and continue to rap to the ground. This combo is hard to beat!

The Brass Wall also has many great single pitch routes to fill your day. Beware, the wall receives sun most of the day, so it can get very warm.

Similar Climbs

If you did not combine Birdland with some pitches of Rawlpindi (5.7), you should climb Rawlpindi from bottom to top. Climbing the Big Horn Crack from Rawlpindi is even a little more straightforward than from Birdland.

For other great climbs with lots of face climbing try Geronimo (5.6), Johnny Vegas (5.7), or Crimson Chrysalis (5.8).

If you are looking for nice face climbing at a higher grade, try Y2K (5.10a). Although it is rated 5.10a, it is more a 5.8-5.9 climb with a single 10a move. This move is bolt protected just where you want it. It is also very easy to aid that one move. If you are a confident 5.8-5.9 leader, you should not have too much trouble with it.